Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.) joined House Republicans in voting to allow the sale of low-cost insurance policies that do not comply with Obamacare. (Douglas Graham/Roll Call/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Thirty-nine Democrats — including four from New York — dealt a rebuke to President Obama on Friday by joining with House Republicans in voting to repeal a cornerstone of Obamacare.

The legislation would allow health insurers to resume selling low-cost policies that have been canceled because they don't provide all the consumer protections and coverage required under the new health care law.

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It was sent to the Senate on a vote of 261 to 157.

Nearly all of the bill's 39 Democratic supporters face competitive elections in 2014.

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Their willingness to buck Obama reflects concerns that his signature health care program is now a political loser after its botched rollout in the last six weeks. Republicans, in fact, have vowed to make Obamacare the top issue in next year's campaign.

Two of the New Yorkers who joined with Republicans Friday in voting for the bill are from the city's distant suburbs — Tim Bishop, who represents Long Island's East End, and Sean Maloney, who represents a swath of the Hudson Valley.

The other two New Yorkers, Reps. Dan Maffei and Bill Owens, represent upstate districts.

Former President Bill Clinton (left) with Rep. Tim Bishop, of Long Island, in October 2010. Bishop was among four New York Democrats who joined Republicans in voting against Obamacare and allowing the sale of low-cost insurance policies. (Seth Wenig/AP)

The House bill is designed to help people whose insurance policies have been canceled because those policies do not provide the coverage mandated under Obamacare.

The issue is politically charged because the cancellations fly in the face of Obama's repeated promise that those who liked their insurance policies would be able to keep those policies.

On Thursday, Obama apologized for his misleading statements and offered an administrative fix.

He called on insurance companies to allow current holders of the limited-coverage, substandard policies to keep those policies for one year.

The House bill would go further, by allowing insurance companies to sell the substandard plans to new customers as well.

"When the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, Americans were promised they could keep their current health care insurance plan if they liked it," Maffei said, explaining his vote.

President Barack Obama arrives on the South Lawn of the White House after a day trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania on Thursday. He has threatened to veto bipartisan legislation that would allow the sale of low-cost insurance policies that do not comply with Obamacare. (Evan Vucci/AP)

"We have an obligation to ensure that promise is kept."

But other Democrats charged that the Republican bill represented a not-so-sneaky way to undermine Obamacare.

The low-cost, low-coverage policies are favored by people who are young and in good health. If they are allowed to continue buying those policies, the new insurance marketplaces created under Obamacare would have a disproportionate number of older and sicker people, driving up rates.

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Republicans "are perfectly satisfied with 40 million Americans having no health insurance at all," said Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.)

"If you want to go back to a system where the insurance companies can turn people away because they are sick, by all means vote for this bill."

Democrats sought to substitute a plan of their own that consisted largely of Obama's new policy, but they failed on a party-line vote.

President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with CEOs from across the health insurance industry at the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Friday. Bipartisan legislation to allow the sale of insurance policies ineligible under Obamacare faces a presidential veto. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The fate of the House bill in the Democratic-controlled Senate is uncertain. Some vulnerable Democrats are eager to go on record supporting such legislation, but the majority of Senate Democrats do not support the measure.

They would have to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and could not cap lifetime benefits. They also would have to provide coverage in a wide range of areas — doctor and hospital care for adults and children, laboratory services, preventive coverage and prescription drugs among them.